Thread-cutter for sewing-machines.



I PATENTED MAR. 31, 1903. E. H. A. HABBERT 8: J. L. ALLEN.v I THREAD CUTTER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION iILED APR. 81 1902.

s sums-sum 1- IQ MODEL.

. m ATTORNEY 'No. 724,282. PATBNTED MAR. 31, 1903.

' E. H. A. HABBERT 2 I. L. ALLEN.

THREAD CUTTER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

- APPLICATION FILED APR. 8. 1902.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

w m nmfiml'm J I N 1 15 =1 ,7 V 1 F 5. 1 W/TNES8E8: 4 22 7X 7 INVENTO/LS v 2 2355? 2' (Ada/6 rrow/5)" No. 724,282. 2 PATENTED MAR. 31. 1903.

' E. H. AIHABBERT 62 J. L. ALLEN.

THREAD CUTTER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 8, 1902. N0 MODEL. 2 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- v g5 WITNESSES //v v/v Tons fi W 2 2770M? "m: NORRIS PETERS c0, momumo, wasnmamu, 04 c.

ENNO HENRY AUGUST HABBERT AND JOHN LEON ALLEN, OF TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO WHEELER & WILSON, MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

TH READ-CUTTER FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part r LettersI-atent No. 724,282, dated March 31, 1903. Application filed April 8, 1902. Serial No. 101,924. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that we, ENNO HENRY AUGUST HABBERT and JOHN LEON ALLEN, citizens of Sewing-Machines, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a sewing-machine with means for drawing 01f the under thread to any desired length at the completion of the sewing of the desired figure I drawn off until it is severed.

In carrying out the invention a lever is pro-" relatively to the needle, or it may be other-' 2 5 wise severed, all as we will proceed now more particularly to set forth and finally claim.

For purposes of illustration we have shown our invention as applied to a machine for sewing on buttons, but wish it to be under- 0 stood that it is applicable to machines for other purposes.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating our invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a front end elevation of a button-sewing machine equipped with our improvements. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section or plan view, partly broken, taken in the plane indicated by the line A B on Fig. 1, the needle-bar be- 0 ing omitted. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the thread-detaining plate. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the thread-detainer. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, partly broken, taken in the plane indicated by the line C D on Fig. 2, illustrating the detainer in position after the under thread has been drawn from the bobbin, the button-clamp, 650., being omitted; and Fig. 6 is a bottom view, partly broken, of a button-sewing machine, showing the usual means for actuating the button-clamp slide.

In describing our improvement only such limited reference will be made to the usual well-known parts of a sewing-machine as is deemed necessary for a proper understanding of our invention.

l-is the frame or *bed plate, 2 the arm, 3 the needle-bar, 4 the needle, 5 the presser-bar, 6 the throat-plate, and 7 is the bobbin-case inclosed within the loop-taker 8, all of which parts are constructed and operated in the usual or any approved manner. or object and friotionally holding it as thus 9 is a button-clamp of any approved construction, which in the present instance is pivoted at its heel end to aslide 10, operated by a lever 11, Fig. 6, pivoted to the under side of the frame and actuated from a cam 12. The forward end of the clamp 9 is con nected by a link 13, Fig. 1, to the presserbar 5, which latter is provided with the usual presser-spring 14, by means of which the clamp is caused to press downwardly toward the throat-plate.

15 is a plate, the rear end of which is secured to the clamp-slide 10 by screws 16, and the front portion 17 of which is folded or bent upon itself to form a pocket in which is adapted to work a blade 18, which for want of a better name we will hereinafter term a thread-detainer. The thread-detainer 18 in the presentinstance comprisesa fiat blade or lever pivoted at 19' to the bed-plate and held in retracted position, as shown in Fig. 2, by a spring 20.

The upper portion 17 of the plate 15 is cut away to accommodate the shape of the gripping-fingers 21 of the button-clamp 9, and formed upon said plate is a stop 22, against which the thread-detainer 18 abuts in its retracted position, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. A U-shap'ed notch 23 in the upper portion 17 of plate 15 is provided with acutting edge by means of which the lower or bobbin thread is severed, as will be presently explained. I 5

24 is a presser-lifting lever adapted to engage the presser-bar 5 in the usual manner to raise the same in order to release the matelatter drawing farther from the bobbin.

rial, said lever being fast on a rock-shaft 25, journaled in suitable bearings 26 on the arm 2. Secured rigidly on said rock-shaft is a lever 27, the lower end of which is adapted to engage the thread-detainer 18 to move the same forward in the pocket in plate 15, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. The presserspring 14 besides actuating the presser-bar also serves to keep the lever 27 in retracted position against a stop 28. The presser-lifting lever 24, rock-shaft 25, and lever 27,secured on said rockshaft, form, in effect, a bell-crank, and when said lifting-lever is depressed, which may be done either by hand or by the usual treadle apparatus, the presserbar and button-clamp will be lifted to permit the material to be shifted or removed and at the same time the thread-detainer 18 will be thrust forward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, thereby drawing a quantity of under thread from the bobbin,as shown in Fig. 5. By shifting the material, with the parts in this position, after the predetermined figure or button has been sewed the under thread will be brought into contact with the cutting edge 23, formed on the plate 17, and thereby severed, as will be readily understood, sufficientfriction being exerted by the thread-detainer and the plate with which it cooperates upon the thread to prevent the The cutting edge 23 is located in distance from the sewed figure or button equal to the length of thread desired to be left hanging loose from the material.

Although not actually necessary, we prefer to form the thread-detainer with a hookshaped or notched extremity 29 the better to insure its effective operation; but we do not wish to be limited in this respect, since satisfactory results may be obtained without shaping the detainer in such manner.

It is not necessary to provide the cutting edge in the notch 23, since the thread may be severed by contact with the plate itself or otherwise.

While we show the forming of the pocket for the lever by folding or bending over plate 17 from plate 15, it is to be understood that said pocket may be otherwise made-as, for example, by affixing a plate, such as 17 to the plate 15.

We do not wish to be limited to the details of construction shown and described, since they may be greatly varied without departing from the spirit of our invention, the gist of which resides in equipping a sewing-machine with instrumentalities for drawing a quantity of under thread from the bobbincase and detaining the same with sufficient friction to enable the operator to shift the material without drawing further thread from the bobbin, whereby the operator may in the act of shifting the material draw the thread into contact with a suitable cutting edge and sever it.

Having thus described our invention, what regeee we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a sewing-machine, a stitch-forming mechanism, a thread-detaining lever, and a plate cooperating with said lever for eifectin g a retention of the bobbinthread, and means to move said lever across the path of vertical movement of the needle, in combination with a thread-cutter for severing the thread by removal of the material from sewing position.

2. In a sewing-machine, a stitch-forming mechanism, a thread-detaining lever, and a plate cooperating with said lever for effecting a retention of the bobbin-thread, and means to move said lever across the path of vertical movement of the needle, in combination with a thread-cutter fixed relatively to said plate for severing the thread by removal of the material from sewing position.

3. In a sewing-machine, a stitch-forming mechanism, a thread-detaining lever, a plate cooperating with said lever for effecting a retention of the bobbin-thread, and means to move said lever across the path of vertical movement of the needle, said plate having an edged notch formed in it for severing the thread as the material is removed from sewing position.

4. In a sewing machine, stitch forming mechanism, a work-clamp, means to actuate it, a plate movable with said work-clamp and having a pocket, a thread'cutting notch in said plate, a lever having one end projecting into said pocket and movable within the line of the under thread, and means to move said lever to engage the said under thread and to pull off a predetermined length and detain it until severed.

5. In a sewingmachine, stitch-forming mechanism, a work-clamp, means to actuate it, a plate movable with said work-clamp and having a pocket, a thread-cutting notch in said plate, a lever having one end projecting into said pocket and provided with a notch or hook, movable within the line of the under thread, and means to move the said lever to engage the said under thread and to pull ofi a predetermined length and detain it until severed.

6. In a sewingmachine, stitch-forming mechanism, a work-clamp, means to actuate it, a plate movable with said work-clamp and having a cutting edge and a pocket, a lever having one end projecting into said pocket and movable within the line of the under thread, and means to move the said lever to engage the said under thread and to pull offa predetermined length and detain it until severed by the cutting edge in the act of mov ing the work.

7. In a sewing-machine, stitch-forming mechanism, a work-clamp, means to actuate it, a plate alined with the work-clamp and having a superposed portion one end of which is provided with a stop, and beneath which portion is a pocket, a thread-cutter provided IIO on said superposed portion, a lever, one end of which projects into said pocket in line with for moving the said lever in one direction, a

rock-shaft and connections between said rock- 15 shaft and lever and presser-foot for moving said lever in the opposite direction to pull off a length of under thread and hold it until severed.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set 20 our hands this 2d day of April, A. D. 1902.

ENNO HENRY AUGUST HABBERT. JOHN LEON ALLEN. Witnesses:

THOMAS GALVIN, JOSEPH 0. RYAN. 

